Air conditioning apparatus



April 3o, 1940. A M, R, KARGE y 2,198,822

AIR CONDITIONING APPARATUS Filed Sept. '7,-1939 3 Sheets-Sheet l In???@Q0 Q l!) \9 l /b l l\ {Ax-A u-I m l I illlz$i w NVN.; IIN s Il \9 w TH"'\ OS Ill'w l Nl Ning NNN b I H N "I IA @meenemen Il mcncncncacncncncn X IH. j

:n lli o INVENTOR MAXWELL R.- KARGE N I- ATTORNEY April 3o, 1940.

M. R. KARGE 2,198,822 AIR CONDITIONING APPRATUS 4Filed sept. v, 1959 ssheets-sheet 2 INVEN-roR MAXWELL R. KARGE BY Y ATTORNE;

April 30, 1940. I M R KARGE 2.198.822 AIR CONDITIONING APPARATUS FiledSept. v, 1939 `s sheets-sheet s sa u lNVENTC-)R MAXWELL R. KARQE AATTORN EY Patented 'Api'. 30, 1940 l UNITED STATES PATENT ol-Flc3Claims.

The object of this invention is to provide an apparatus that melts icefor the purpose of air conditioning or cooling and drying the atmosphereof a room.

Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus whichcomprises an ice chest that can be placed in the most convenient or anyoutof-the-way place, which ice chest is connected to the airconditioning apparatus which is placed where it is most effective incooling the air of a room.

Another object of the invention is to use ordinary ice in cakes or inscraps, which ice is melted for the purpose of cooling water, whichwater is then circulated to and through an air conditioning device bywhich the air of a room is cooled and the moisture of it is dried out,and the water with its temperature raid is returned to the ice chestwhere its temperature is reduced N again.

Another object of the invention is to provide an auxiliary tank intowhich the surplus waste water is drained, and inwhich it is heldtemporarily, and from which at intervals it is discharged Il into anysuitable drain.

Another object of the invention is to use the 'accumulated waste waterto precool the air that goes through the air conditioning apparatusbefore it gets to the coil that contains the coldest l0 water that iscooled directly by the ice, after which the waste water is dischargedinto the sewer.

Another object of the invention is to provide an air conditioningapparatus having two sets of 35 coils therein, one set of coils of whichis cooled by the waste water and from which the water is discharged intothe sewer, and the other coil is cooled by the water that :ilows fromthe melting ice, which water is then returned to the ice chest; 40Another object ofthe invention is to provide an air conditioningapparatus having two sets of coils therein, one set of coils of whichvis cooled by the waste water and from which the water is discharged intothe sewer, and the other coil is 43 cooled by the water that ilows fromthe melting ice, which coils are supplemented by a tank which holds acertain amount oi' accumulated waste water, in which tank is submerged athird coil through which the returned water is passed 50 and from whichit is discharged into the ice chest. 'I'hese and other objects of theinvention will be illustrated in the drawings. described in thespecication, and pointed out in the claims at the end thereof. li In thedrawings:

Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal section through one form of theapparatus, showing the ice chest, the ian forcirculatlug the air, andthe two coils in the fan housing for cooling the air, andan auxiliarywaste water tank and a third 5 coil therein for precooling the waterthat is returned to the ice chest.

Figure 2 is a front elevation of the fan and housing therefor, showingthe lattice front partly broken away.

vFigure 3 is a vertical cross section through the waste water tank, thesection being taken on the line 3cr-3a: of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is an assembly view of three of the units placed side by side,with the ian of each unit blowing theair through one common duct, thefans and air cooling coils of the three units being placed in series sothat the same air passes through all three cooling units and is drivenby` all threeY fans. a

Figure 5 is a diagrammatic view of the water circulating system showingtwo of the air conditioning and fan units arranged in parallel.

Figure 6 is a detail view of a large icoupling used to connect theYdischarge end of the fan unit with a window lof a house, or a bus, or arailroad car, et cetera, so that the cooled air is discharged where itis wanted.

Figureisadetail viewofafanunitanda large pipe connected thereto, bywhich the cooled 30 air can be conveyed to and discharged into anyparticular place it is desired to have it.

Figure 8 is a detail view of the fan unit with its discharge openingplaced against an opening through the wall so that` the complete unitcan be placed in one room for the purpose of discharging cool air intoan adjoining room.

Figure 9 is an assembly View of the ice chest and the circulatingapparatus in one unit, and the coils and fan for air conditioning inanother unit, with a flexible tube for containing the iiexible watercirculating tubes and the electric wires for connecting the two unitstogether, with the units placed at any desired distance from each other.l Y

, Figure 10 is a top plan view of the ice chest and the housing for thecirculating apparatus shown in the lower part of Figure 9.

Figure 11 is a small portion of a vertical longi tudinal section on areduced scale of a compact 5g form of the apparatus, showing anauxiliary waste water tank in which are located two rotary pumps whichare operated by two motors in a compartment directly above the watertank. 'I'he motors are attached directly to fans which ciran ice chesthaving a door2 thereon which swings on hinges 3. The walls of this icechest are in` sulated so that the ice will be protected as much aspossible from being melted by the surrounding air, and will be meltedonly in the way that the apparatus is designed to melt it, ashereinafter described.

This chest is lled with large blocks of ice which are indicated by thereference numerals`4, 5, 6, "I, and 8. These blocks ordinarily wouldeach weigh one or two hundred pounds -or more. This ice chest has aninclined bottom 9 on which the blocks of ice are piled, which bottomdrains to the left as shown in Figure 1. Under this bottom is a tank I0in which the water derived from the melting ice can accumulate. Fromthis tank is a drain I I through which the surplus water passes into anauxiliary tank I2. In this tank is a coil of pipe I3. This coil of pipeis fed from a pipe I4, which is the return pipe from the airconditioning apparatus. The water after it is circulated through thiscoil I3 passes out through the pipe l5 into a long pipe I6. 'This pipehas perforations therein, through which the water is sprayed onto thecake of ice at the bottom of the ice chest, which water melts the iceAand is cooled thereby. 'I'he water cooled to the lowest possibletemperature accumulates in the tank III. Thisl Water has a. temperaturevery nearly as low :as the temperature of the melting ice. The coldwater is drawn out of the tank I0 through an inverted siphon I1 4shownin Figure 5 through a valve I8 by a rotary pump I9,I which pump isdriven by an electric motor.

This pump forces theF water up through 4the pipe 20 into the coil 2|,which is contained in the housing 22 of the fan and air conditioningunit.

AThe waterA passes up through this coil to the top, and from the top isdrawn out and passes down through the pipe I4 into the coil I3 submergedin the auxiliary tank I2, where the water is precooled by the wastewater, and from this coil it again passes tl'nough the pipe I5 to thespray nozzle I6, and is circulated in this way through the apparatusindelinitely.

The excess Water as it rises in the tank I0 is drawn off through thedrain II into the auxiliary tank I2. When the water rises to a certainlevel in the tank I2 it raises a oat 23 which closes a switch andstarts'the motor 24 to operating, which drives a rotary pump 25 througha belt 26. This rotary pump 25 draws off the excess water from the tankI2 and discharges it through the outlet pipe 21 into an auxiliary coil28 carried in the back of the housing 22, through which air passes onits way to the fan and by which the air is precooled before it gets tothe coil 2| which contains the coldest water drawn from the tank I0. p

It will be understood that the tank I0 contains the coldest water; thatis, water having a temperature nearly the temperature of melting ice,and the tank I2 contains water having a4 temperature several degreeshigher than this. In this way the cooling eiect of the waste Water isutilized to the utmost before the water passes from the drain pipe 29into the sewer.

When the-level of Athe water in the tank I2` drops, the iloat 23 dropsand opens the circuit `much faster.

causing the electric motor 24 to become idle. In this way the surpluswater is lremoved from the tank I 2 intermittently only as it is neededto prevent an overow from that tank. The water from the tank I2 flowsthrough the coil 28 when the 5 pump 25 operates, and when the pump stopsthe water stands still in the coil 28.

The rotary pump I8 is driven by a pulley 30, which in turn is driven bya belt 3| from a pulley 32`driven by a motor 33, which operatescontinuously as long as the manually operated switch remains closed. Itwill also be understood that instead of a manually operated switch thismotor may be controlled by a switch that is operatedv by a thermostat 34which opens the switch as soon as the temperature of the room that isbeing air conditioned is reduced to the proper point.

It will also be understood that the bottom 0I.' the housing 22 that isunder the coils 2| and 28 is Water tight. This bottom catches the dripfrom the coils, which drip is the water of condensation that iscondensed from the moist air by the cooling coils 2lA and 28 of thisapparatus. This water of condensation can be drained directly intoeither thetank I2 or the tank I0.

In the fan unit is placed an electric motor 48 which drives a belt4I,which'in turn drives a shaft 42 on which is carried the fan 43. Thisfan" draws the air horizontally in the direction of the arrow shownimmediately back of the fan and the air is drawn through the top andsides of the housing of the fan unit, through the coils 2| and '28,` asindicated by the arrow at the top of the unit. At the front the `fan iscovered by a grille 44, through which the air 'is blown. The motor 40 iscontrolled by a switch which can be manually operated or operated by athermostat, for which purpose the thermostatshown at 34 can be used.

In Figure 4 I have shown three of these units assembled side by side.Each of these units comprises an ice chest which is filled through aseparate door, it being understood that each chest has its own door; andwhen the units are assembled in this way, the fan units will be arrangedin series so that theair that is circulated will pass through all threefans and through all three sets of cooling coils. Because the three fansare in series they will cause the air to move that It will be understoodthat this apparatus will ordinarily be made in units such as can easilygo through an` ordinary doorway. One of these units might be suillcientto air condition a room of ordinarysize, but to air condition a room ofdouble that size two units would be needed. To air condition a roomlarger, three or more units would be needed, and by this arrangement anydesirednumber of units can be placed wherever they are desired and canbe coupled together 01350 joint action.

In 'Figure 5 I have shown the water tanks I0 and I 2 such as are shownin Figure 1. 'I'he pumpv I9 discharges the cold water from the tank I0through the pipe 20, which in turn discharges1 the 05 water into thecoils 2I of two fan units placed in parallely relation to each other.These fan units discharge the water that is warmed by the conditioningof the air into the return pipe I4 by which it is returned to theauxiliary coil I3 and 70 from there passes into the pipe I5 to the spraynozzle I6. Y

A In Figure 6 I have shown the fan and the housing 22 of the fan unitpartly broken away. To this housing is connected the large bellows tube7l arrangement l5 with a suitable tip therefor which can be placedagainst a window opening through which the air can be discharged into aroom,v or

into a bus, or a railroad car, et cetera, so that cold air can be blowninto the room, or into the bus, or railroad car before it starts lon thetrip.

In Figure 7 I have shown a large discharge tube I6 connected to thehousing 22 ofthe fan by a suitable coupling, through which the cold aircan be conveyed to a distant pointA and discharged into a room, etcetera.`

IIn Figure 8 I have shown the housing 22 of the fan connected to anopening 41, which opening can be provided in a partition, so that theair can be cooled in one room and discharged through a partition into anadjoining room.

It will also be seen that the units shown in Figures 1 and 4 are mountedon casters 48 so that the units can be easily moved around. They can beinstalled temporarily during the hot season and removed when they aren'o longer needed.

This also facilitates placing the units where theycan be used mosteiectively. Y

In Figures 9 and 10 I have shown an ice chest with a circulatingapparatus such as is shown in Figures 1 and 4, except that the door 50is placed on top of the unit, so that the ice chest can be lled fromabove. 'I'his type of ice chest is desirable because it can be iilledwith snow ice, or small pieces of ice, which is waste ice and frequentlycan be' had much cheaper than ice in large blocks. In this unit I haveshownthe electric wires that control the fan unitland the water tubesthat connect the two coils of the air conditioning unit with the tanksI0 and I2 of the ice chest all brought together and enclosed in a large`flexible tube 5I. This tube 5I and the tube and wires contained thereincan be of any length so that the ice chest can be put at one place andthe fan unit can be placed where it will be most effective at any pointremote from the ice chest.

It will also be understood that the tubes Il, I5,v

20, 29, et cetera, can all be rubber tubes, or ordinary hose, or metaltubing. The exlble tubing would be most desirable in `many cases becauseit adds to the flexibility and ease of the installation. v

It will also be understood that in the ice chest shown in Figures 9 and10 the auxiliary tank .I2 and coil I3 will be omitted, and the waterwill be returned from the coil 2| to the ice chest, and the water willbe fed into the coil 28 only'a's it rises above a certain height in thetank I0, and will be discharged from the coil 28 directly into thesewer. To regulate the speed at which the water ows through the coil 28,`a valve 52 is provided which checks or throttles the discharge of waterso that the water will be discharged only when it has risen to nearlythe temperature of the room being air conditioned. This makes itpossible to melt the ice with the utmost eiiiciency in Aconditioning theair.

It will also be understoodthat in the apparatus shown in Figure 1 theauxiliary tank I2 may be dispensed with and the waste water may bepumped directly from the tank I0 intermittently through the coil 28, thewater passing Ifrom there into the drain. In such case the drain Ilwould be closed up.

In Figure 11, I have shown a more compact form of my invention. A smallinsulated tank I2 is attached to the large insulated tank I 0. A drainII connects the two tanks so that the Surplus water accumulating in thetank I Il will flow into the tank I 2. The coldest water is drawn fromthe tank In through the pipe I1 by the rotary pump I9 which forces thiscold water upwards through the pipe 2n through the radiator I coils 2|through the pipe I4 which carries the water to-the pipe I6 which spraysthis water against the ice which rests on the inclined bottom 9 fromwhich it ows by gravity into the tank I0. This procedure is repeatedover and over again by the pump I9 which runs` continuously or atintervals, which action may be controlled either manually by a switch orautomatically by a thermostat.

The surplus water, which results from the melting ice, ows into the tankI2 and is drawn out of the tank I2 by. the pump 25 when the level of thewater rises and immerses the pipe Aat the bottom of the pump 25. Thiswater is then forced upwards through the pipe 21 through the radiatorcoils 28 and out of the tube 29 to the sewer.

This pump 25 operates continuously.

`As shown in Figure 11 the tank I2 contains the two pumps4 I9 and 25 andthe four tubes I1, 20, Il and 21. The inside of this tank is made airtight so that the temperature will remain as' cold as possible. In acompartment directly above thisv'is located the motor I9a which directlydrives the fau 43a. The motor I9a also drives the pump I9 directly by ashaft which 90 extends through the radiator 2| and through the topinsulation of the water tank l2. In this same compartment is locatedalso the motor 25a which directly drives the pump 25 and the fan 43h.'I'he motor shaft in this case also extends y through the radiator 28and through theV top insulation of the water tank I2. At the top of eachvfan is located a grille through which passes the cold air from the fansand the coils.

I claim: 1. In an airconditioning-apparatus, the combination of a chestadapted to hold ice, a spray pipe at the bottom of the chest adapted tospray water on the ice, a tank below the ice chest into which the waterof the spray and of the melting ice drains, an air conditioning coilcomprising pipe, means for circulating air through the coil on theou'tside of the pipe, means for taking water from the tank below the icechest and circulating it through the inside of the pipe of I0 the coil,an auxiliary tank, a drain connecting the two tanks through which thesurplus water of the first tank passes into the second tank, a coilsubmerged in the auxiliary tank, means for returning the water from the.iirst named coil and passing it through the second coil to the spraypipe.

2. In an air conditioning apparatus, the combination of a chest adaptedto hold ice, a spray pipe at the bottom of the chest adapted to spray 00water on the ice, a tank below the ice chest into which the water of thespray and of the melting ice drains, an air conditioning coil comprisingpipe, means for circulating air through the coil on the outside of thepipe, means for taking wa#- ter from the tank below the ice chest andcirculating it through the inside of 'the pipe of the coil, an auxiliarytank, a drain connecting the two tanks through which the surplus watero! the rst tank passes into the second tank, a coil submerged in theauxiliary tank. means for returning the water from the rst named coiland passing Vit through the second coil tothe spray pipe, a second airconditioning coil of pipe adjacent to the first named air conditioningcoil. 7l

a secondcoil of pipe submerged in the auxiliary tank, means for takingwater from theauxiliary tank and passing it through the second namedsubmerged coil and through the second named 6 air conditioning coil andthen discharging it into a drain.

3. In an air conditioning apparatus, the oombination of a chest adaptedto hold ice, a spray pipe at the bottom of the chest adapted to l0.spray water von the ice, a tank below the ice chest tinto which thewater of the spray and of the melting ice drains, an air conditioningcoil comprising pipe through which cold water circulates, an electricmotor and fan for circulating air through the coil on the outside of thepipe, a

tube for taking water from the tank below the y t amaca:

ice chest vand Adelivering it to the pipe of the coil, anauxiliary tank;a drain connecting the two tanks through which the surplus water of thefirst tankpasses into the second tank, a coil submerged in the auxiliarytank, a tube for returning the water from'the air conditioning coil andpassing it through the second coil to the spray pipe, -a Apump forcirculating .the water through the two coils, wires connecting the fan`single unit.`

' MAXWELL R. KARGE.

